Toxin works with nerve proteins to block distress signals’ journey to brain

By Meghan Rosen, 12:35 PM October 30, 2013

Tiny desert-dwelling rodents have found a way to take the sting out of scorpion venom.

A protein in the nerves of southern grasshopper mice hijacks the venom’s toxins, silencing pain signals that usually race to the brain when scorpions strike. The protein and venom together can even numb the animals to other types of agony, researchers report in the Oct. 25 Science.

“In these mice, the venom actually works like a painkiller,” says neuroscientist Frank Bosmans of Johns Hopkins University who wa...